Founding Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars announced in October 2022 that he was retiring as a touring member of the band because of ongoing health issues, and was he subsequently replaced by Rob Zombie’s guitarist, John 5. Mars then sued his former bandmates in 2023, after he was officially ousted from the group.
Now, Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx has insisted bringing John 5 into the fold was the right decision.
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“It was becoming harder and harder and harder to get anything done with Mick because of his memory problems and just his physical ailments,” Sixx said of the 73-year-old musician in a new interview with Classic Rock magazine, as reported by Guitar.com. “And we have a lot of empathy for that.”
He continued, “When Mick left the band, we had to make a choice. And we made the right choice with John. We wish Mick nothing but the best.”
[RELATED: John 5 Promises New Mötley Crüe Residency in Las Vegas Is “Something People Have Never Seen Before”]
Sixx expanded on his feelings regarding replacing Mars, declaring, “I run this band with an iron fist and nobody can get in and f— with our band, legally, marketing-wise.” He added that it was “a self-sufficient decision” to bring in John 5 in place of Mars. Nikki also noted that it “the right thing to do.”
Sixx admitted, however, “doing the right thing isn’t always f—ing fun, [with] fans believing we did something we didn’t do.”
More About Mars’ Exit from Mötley Crüe
Mars has long dealt with debilitating pain because he suffers from an inflammatory disease called ankylosing spondylitis. Ongoing issues caused by the disease led him to decide to retire from touring.
Mick claimed, though, that he didn’t intend to officially quit Mötley Crüe, and when John 5 was named as his full-fledged replacement in the group, he launched a lawsuit in April 2023.
In a June 2023 interview with Rolling Stone, Mars accused his ex-bandmates of “trying to take my legacy away, my part of Mötley Crüe, my ownership of the name, the brand.”
After Mars filed his lawsuit, an attorney for Mötley Crüe, Sasha Frid, told Variety that Mick announcing he was retiring from touring also signaled that he was “resigning from the band.”
The lawsuit has yet to be resolved.
Mötley Crüe’s Upcoming Concert Plans
Mötley Crüe recently played its last schedule concert of 2024, an October 13 headlining set at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California.
The band recently announced dates for a 2025 Las Vegas residency at Dolby Live at the Park MGM hotel. The 11-show engagement kicks off March 28 and is plotted out through April 19 performance. This will mark Mötley Crüe’s first Sin City residency since the fall of 2013, when they played 12 gigs at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel.
Tickets for Mötley Crüe’s shows are available now via various outlets, including StubHub.
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(Photo by Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)
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